Left field art-rockers share the
recording process for their most straightforward and stylized
release
Having assembled a backing band
dexterous enough to maneuver his fractured vocal labyrinths and
polymath grooves for touring 2007’s Rise Above-an art-pop opus
where he attempted to recreate Black Flag’s Damaged from
memory-Dave Longstreth has made his first “band” album with
Bitte Orca. Utilizing his bandmates as instruments, he dispatches
guitarist Amber Coffman on a Mariah Carey-styled slow jam entitled
“Stillness is the Move” and bassist Angel Deradoorian for the
fragile balladry of “Two Doves,” their voices allowing Longstreth
to experiment with a different type of pop arrangement. The Led
Zep-ish swagger of “Cannibal Resource” and the dizzying harmonies
and stuttering backbeats of “Temecula Sunrise” are more typical
of his contrapuntal sense of composition, though he seems to be
gaining confidence in his ability to cut directly to the listener
instead of obscuring his melodies with constant thematic and
structural shifts. The result is the most thoroughly engaging entry
in the Dirty Projectors catalog and one of the most singularly
engrossing albums likely to be released this year, a triumph in
sustained creative restlessness.